RSPA 104 (Oriental Manuscripts, British Library)
India Office Library
Jones Collection
Royal Society Arabic and Persian
Contents
A commentary on the seven Muʿallaqāt
Language(s): Arabic
This manuscript was copied by a Badr al-Dīn ibn Sayyid Ḥusayn walad Sayyid Muḥammad Rafīʿ al-Ḥassanī al-Makhāwī al-Yamanī. His family therefore hailed from Makhā (Mocha) in Yemen. He was employed to write this manuscript for Muḥammad Khān Bahādur Shīr-Jang, who lived in Murshidabad.
That the manuscript was copied in 1198AH or 1784AD means that Jones was already in India when the manuscript was produced.
According to Dennison Ross and Browne, copies of this commentary in manuscript form are very rare. However, it has since been published in Arabic, edited by Aḥmad Khaṭṭāb, under the title Sharḥ al-qaṣāʾid al-tisʿ al-mashhūrāt(Baghdad: Wizārat al-Iʿlām, Mudīrīyat al-Thaqāfah al-ʿĀmmah, 1973).
Physical Description
European numerals in pencil.
Condition
Detached binding. The manuscript is considerably damaged by worms and in some places this affects the text itself. Many folios are loose and quite a number are very smudged or have sustained other damage (such as ink spills, finger marks etc.)
Layout
Hand(s)
Neat black naskh with many rubrications. Copious mistakes throughout the MS which have been corrected. Copied by Badr al-Dīn ibn Sayyid Ḥusayn walad Sayyid Muḥammad Rafīʿ al-Ḥassanī al-Makhāwī al-Yamanī.
Decoration
Catchwords are present on every page.
Towards the start of the manuscript there are several lines which have been highlighted through curly brackets and underlining.
Binding
Red leather European-style Indian binding with a circular stamped frieze pattern.
Accompanying Material
History
Provenance and Acquisition
RSPA 1-118 were presented to the Royal Society in January 1792 by Sir William and Lady Jones. This manuscript was presented by Lady Jones, according to Wilkins.
The Royal Society's collection of 280 Persian and Arabic, and 86 Sanskrit manuscripts were transferred to the India Office Library in 1876.
1876
India Office Library
Record Sources
Availability
Entry to read in the Library is permitted only on presentation of a valid reader's card for admissions procedures contact British Library, Registering for a Reader Pass. Contact apac-enquiries@bl.uk for further information on the availability of this manuscript. For information on catalogues and ordering manuscripts see Finding and ordering Persian manuscripts in the British Library.
Funding of Cataloguing
BL
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